The Upper West Side luxury rental apartment tower often known as Aire was quietly sold to the well-established Gotham Organization and Carlyle Group, Realty Check has learned – affirming recent energy within the investment-sale marketplace for multifamily properties.
The 43-story, 310-unit constructing at 200 W. 67th St. behind Lincoln Center fetched a healthy $265 million in a hush-hush transaction last week. Industry sources said the deal followed a strong bidding war.
The vendor, A&R Kalimian Realty, faced expiration of roughly $200 million in mortgage loans and decided not to hunt recent financing. Nonetheless, Aire didn’t go into actual default as was erroneously reported.
Gotham’s purchase includes a completely leased retail portion along Amsterdam Avenue. It marks a fine addition to the marketplace for sales of apartment buildings in the town, which saw volume fall to $9.7 billion in 2023 – a 52 percent drop from 2022, as reported by Ariel Property Advisors.
It’s believed that CBRE “Skyscraper Queen” Darcy Stacom and associate Alana Bassen brokered the Aire transaction. Nonetheless, CBRE declined to verify a sale and Stacom didn’t return calls and e-mails searching for comment.
The tower fetched $265 million in a hush-hush transaction last week. Steve Cuozzo
The gleaming, glass-clad constructing boasts a tenants’ wellness center and a personal, half-acre park. Its plight was closely watched ever since a $195.8 million loan from J. P. Morgan went to special servicing last summer.
Kalimian — a family partnership wracked by feuding among the many heirs of founder Elias Kalimian — developed the tower and opened it in 2013. It was only about 70 percent rented in early 2020 but recovered to near-full status last 12 months.
But Crain’s reported in January that rent income covered only 87 percent of the debt.
The acquisition is something of a departure for Gotham, which often develops its own buildings. They include Gotham West on Eleventh Avenue, which is home to award-winning food hall Gotham West Market. The corporate’s most up-to-date projects include Gotham Point in Long Island City and The Suffolk on the Lower East Side.
Gotham declined to comment.
